


To Tame A Beast

by kritter



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe in general, androids are monstrous & their original make is for different reasons, but it follows the main storyline for the most part
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-06-27 05:54:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19784617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kritter/pseuds/kritter
Summary: Androids are designed differently for different reasons, but the revolution remains centrally important - just gone about equally differently.





	1. Chapter 1

‘Dental’ visits were generally a messy process as the humans ensured the ports that rooted titanium teeth into the gums were well intact, fully functional and decorative enough to display with their reflective chromatic exterior, despite their functionality being centrally a weapon.

Optical units programmed with vertical pupils that could shift from full-orbital dilation to needle-thin constriction, allowing the androids to see in any and all ranges of light. Olfactory receptors were designed to detect scents up to 500 feet away, and UV, nightvision and low-light settings enable the androids to track humans and other androids for long distances and extended periods of time.

Extendable jaws that could detach and artificial skin that could stretch. Retractable claws, transluscent double eyelids, prehensile tails and heat-seeking weaponry. Digitigrade legs, gleaming synthetic skin and crosshair eyes—but for the most part, they tried to keep the _government-oriented_ androids looking relatively human, and so the RK800 remained fairly unassuming until its jaws were pried open, showing oversized, lengthy teeth that nearly dug through the inner lip and gums when the mouth was closed, one of the inspectors whistling as he showed a teammate a flash of the powerful robotic jowls.

“Better than a K9 unit,” he said, patting the android on the cheek – fleshy and humanoid, as were the brown eyes that gazed him down and the auburn hair donning its head, the clothing fitting an otherwise anthropological form. The android blinked its quadruple lids with curiosity, but otherwise remained still.

“Connor,” rang a voice it seemed to know to listen to as its head turned and its eyes focused in on wherever the noise emitted from. Recognizing its designated ‘partner’, it stepped away from its parking slot to trail behind the older male, silver-haired with a glare of contempt in his blue eyes as he left the building with an elaborate killing machine following close behind.

-

“Stay away from the dog,” the man commanded from his place on the couch, and the android registered the sound of an opening can as he pried away the tab of a cold beer.

“Will do,” the machine responded politely, though its voice remained evidently artificial in nature, earning a skeptical glare but no other response for the time being.

-

“Do you think they’re properly equipped to manage situations like these?” The voice was unfamiliar, but it echoed down the halls of the DPD.

“That’s the whole point of a prototype, isn’t it?” Another voice, more adamant, responded to the first.

“Kamski didn’t design them for this.”

“ _Kamski_ isn’t in charge anymore. Cyberlife is, and they design the androids.” Tension hung with the silence in the air.

-

Snapping hinges clasped with long canines digging through fake flesh, brown fingers with gray talons piercing into the external shell of its opponent.

“What will you do? Send another Connor?” The words echoed in its microphones, encouraging it to use more of its strength as it shoved the RK200 to the ground.

“If I need to,” it responded with a snarl, and he mimicked its expression just the same—though his teeth were flat and sharp, sharklike with a sheen edge like that of a double-sided blade, his smirk resembling that of an angler fish.

“You’re outnumbered, _Markus_.” Its words smarted, but in a swift movement, he had it pinned beneath him by the shoulders.

“Maybe. But outpowered?” The sound of grinding metal grated against Connor’s audio processors while the dark tone of the skin on Markus’ torso washed away and his body split down the middle to open with curled, sharp-ended clawlike ribs curving in beneath plastic and metal flesh, revealing an intricate system of faux organs, variously transparent and generally filled with gradient blue liquid.

“You want to kill me? Now’s your chance.” It was a trap, Connor knew it by the way thirium swirled through the artificial transparent ‘veins’ and glinted under the sunlight, protected by a complicated mechanical endoskeleton that shined silver and white. Connor opened its jaw and disconnected the lower portion so it could separate and catch a larger bite of his shin, crunching down on the calf; with a grunt of dismay, Markus raised his leg and flipped his weight so he was on top of Connor, staring it down. Teeth sharp enough to slice through android parts with ease, Connor eyed the plethora of fangs lining the inside of his mouth in rows. Connor’s teeth were large, long and dull, meant for crushing the way the limb caved beneath its bite, while Markus’ were small but needle-sharp, ripping through synthetic flesh, cables and plastic tubes like tissue paper; something that offset its original _neutralize all deviants_ programming as when a ‘stronger’ opponent might outmatch it, a flood of ‘adrenaline’ charging it to lunge at the enemy and return itself to the top position. Markus hissed, the ‘flesh’ of his jaws bending outward and revealing more layers of teeth like a snake adjusting its maw for the next meal half its own size. Preparing itself for what would come next, Connor was quick to upload its memories to the upcoming model before arrowhead teeth sunk into its forearm, cutting a plethora of small slits in a circular pattern into its arm, signaling it to react similarly and open its maw wide with jaws clenching tight onto the neck of its opponent before he had time to deflect its attack. Hearing the _crunch_ of a prosthetic throat, Markus emitted a wail of pain with another bodily flip so he had the physical advantage again, his anatomy rematerializing as his internal organs receded and his skin recolored itself in its usual human-mimicking tone.

Connor snapped its jaws and hissed, a loud _clack_ of teeth ricocheting through their surroundings as it snarled and glowered, eyes wide and violent with preparation to attack. The android that was Markus let out a gurgling noise, body thrashing as he was quick to slither beneath Connor and press his feet to its chest, launching it away with one determined kick of two powerful legs. Claws unsheathing from beneath humanesque fingernails, Connor caught itself on its toes as its talons dug into the dirt beneath the two of them. Thirium dribbled from its lips as well as the deeply indented marks on the other android’s limbs, and Markus took the moment as an opportunity to lunge forth again, shoving the RK800 by the shoulders while heaving all of his weight forth to tackle it in one rapid, heavy movement, feet quickly re-arranging their plates into a semicircle as they morphed into hooves, one of which he quickly stomped into Connor’s face to fracture the biocomponents in its nose as it peeled away from its head, revealing a cutaway of the interior wiring; flickering sparks of bright blue as disconnected pathways struggled to make up for the missing components. With a snarl, the RK800’s face split in two, dividing into a pair of symmetrical one-sided jaws full of heavy metal teeth with an appendage vaguely resembling a tongue flicking between the flat ‘halves’ of the entity’s head.

Startled, Markus reeled backwards, preparing himself for the next attack as Connor whipped its ‘head’ around with one side stretching in an attempt to bite his neck, but his own claws tore through the flexible plastic of its cheek, hooking fingers around one jaw before placing the other on the opposite side, pulling each side of the head in opposite directions until it tore through at the base of its collar, watching as cables separated and popped apart from the pressure.

“Tell your next model to try harder,” Markus said in warning, stepping over the limp chassis to press a hoof to its chest in a signal of dominance. Signaling the collection of androids around him, he waved his hand in a gesture that meant he had remained victorious.

“Now, we wait. We wait, and we prepare.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus plans for what to do next and Hank's Connor continues investigating general deviant homicide cases meanwhile.

“You know that if they come after us again, they’re going to throw everything they’ve got our way,” North said, all too aware she was stating the obvious as one leg crossed over the other and she settled to sit on the ground.

“And it’s not like we have any military androids in Jericho.” Considering her statement, Markus paced, bare feet pattering along the ground as he tended to default to his friendlier-looking _human_ form, out of the sake of habit as well as for his own moral display. Humans were less sensitive against creatures that looked like them, likely an intentional part of designing androids the way they were; but Cyberlife had no excuse to load them with mutant-esque traits and weapons to sell to people with the idea they’d remain domestic, a supposed ‘miscommunication’ after Cyberlife picked up the project from Kamski himself.

“No, but our strength will be in numbers,” he responded, pausing as he hovered in thought.

“We need to get everyone together that we can. Ideally, they’ll have backup programming to help them fight, but we might want to check over diagnostics before we go into battle. Finding more pieces is going to be difficult, but not impossible, if we know the right fitting biocomponents.”

“Do you know exactly _how_ difficult that will be?” She scrunched her nose with a skeptical glare, narrowing her eyes at him while his own gaze remained patient.

“We’ll spend hours trying to match parts,” she urged, but Markus shook his head.

“No, we’ll do our research and spend a precious number of minutes gathering what we can,” he corrected her.

“Not a second will go to waste.”

-

“Jaws nice and wide, RK800,” the man enthused, and Connor’s lower jaw separated down the middle, each side separating like mandibles to show the cerulean wiring and translucent, shining membrane that lined the inside of its mouth. Hank watched as a tentacle-like tongue dropped down the middle, presentably flesh-toned until further back near the throat where the flesh tone merged into the gradient blues.

“Alright, put it all back,” he droned with boredom in his tone, and Connor shifted its jowl back into place, the pale tone of its skin rapidly washing back over the connective plates as its chin reconnected to become whole again.

Picking up a flashlight, the stranger turned it on to shine a bright white LED into one of its eyes, watching the rounded pupil constrict into a thin needle, following the source of the light as it moved side to side. Switching the light to a blacklight, he watched as the android’s eyes shifted to watch it just the same. Shifting the lens so it registered a radiance of heat alone, he repeated the motion; this time, the RK800 followed with its face as well as its eyes, sensing the warmth with sensors embedded in the ‘nose’.

“You know the drill.” Connor lifted its hands, the sound of sliding metal filling the air as it unsheathed curled talons, flat like single-sided knives with an underside blade. The man eyed them warily, then gestured it to withdraw them again, so it did.

“Alright. Looking functional,” the stranger stated, stepping away from the android that now looked fully human – as long as it didn’t blink. Hank looked impressed as the male in protective gear left the inspection room, tossing his gloves into the trash.

“You do this often?” Hank’s tone was half sarcastic, half genuinely curious as he crossed his arms and tilted his head at “Connor”, his ‘partner.’ So far, so fine, but he felt as if it would be all too easy for the machine to turn on him, a wary emotion he’d felt since ‘deviant’ android cases began and he was set after a few ugly crime scenes. Carlos’ was particularly brutal with deep gashes across his body in a plethora of numbers, and to think all it might take was one split second to trigger these things into attacking those they were supposedly meant to protect.

“Usually once a week,” replied the inspector, “but more often after the violence started. I’m just here to look after basic functions, anything beyond what I just did is Cyberlife’s business, but if you notice anything _unusual_ , you’re free to contact us.” He passed Hank a card, and he glanced down at it; sure enough, the guy was some sort of professional set up with Cyberlife to keep an eye on the things; something like a mechanic’s nurse, in his mind. Mostly it made him curious who the real _doctors_ were, when it came to the more complicated engineering within the android. For now, he supposed it didn’t matter.

“So how often am I supposed to have it do this, again?” The guy shrugged.

“The schedule’s a bit up in the air, but I recommend at least twice a week. Mention it to the DPD if you feel like it, they keep in contact with us to keep an eye on this series in particular.” Hank shrugged and nodded.

“Alright.” Glancing to Connor, he whistled and motioned his arm for it to follow after him; without missing a beat, the android was quick to shadow him with the audible click of heels against the ground as innocent-looking, rounded eyes watched him while it obediently trekked along, back to the home where it would act as his typical investigation partner when a case came up, as well as a personal guard otherwise, as most androids did with their assigned persons.

-

“Another case of another slaughter,” Ben informed Hank as soon as he’d stepped on the scene with his fellow _partner_ always close behind. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead.

“And what are we s’posed to do this time?”

“The same as always. Have your little _friend_ there hunt down the deviant. At this rate, with how dangerous they are, it doesn’t matter if they’re seized or destroyed, but it’s what that RK800 is made for.” Hank sneered with a look of disgust, turning on his heel to face Connor with a lazy half-shrug.

“You heard the man. Go get ‘em, tiger.” With its eyes turning toward the house, it immediately began to scan as it started to walk forward, before kneeling down to sniff at some blood on the living room floor before the long, prehensile tongue flicked out to lap up a sample. It paused for two seconds to compute it, before turning its head, and in a flash it was standing up, feet and hands shifting to extend as it was immediately on all fours, shifting beneath artificial clothes that either dissipated or merged into the chassis as they were made from a unique combination of holographic light and thirium-based semi-matter, thus never leaving behind a mess of clothes every time they shifted. Hank couldn’t deny being impressed, but a bit freaked out all the same.

“Well, there it goes,” he said with a small huff, raising his eyebrows as he turned to Ben.

“I guess this is my part now, huh?” Collins nodded, gesturing to the rest of the crime scene.

“All yours.”

Stepping forward to take a look around, Hank followed the trail of blood Connor originally discovered, tracking it down the hallway and to the bedroom. The way the blood was smeared against the floor gave him the impression the body was _dragged_ the entire way, with the red lines and splotches leading up to the bed, and to the window, which was wide open; the android must have fled through it with the body.

“Collins,” he called, turning around while he waited before turning back to the mess.

“What is it?” he asked along the way, before pausing in the doorway, stopping and staring at the scene with a soft ‘ _oh.’_

“Well, here’s hoping Connor finds whatever remains of the body, huh?” Hank groused and Collins sighed, glancing down at his tablet as he pulled up the police record.

“There was a married couple that lived here, husband and wife, but there hasn’t been a sign of either of them for at least a week. I’m sure the android can identify what might have happened, but who knows how far it got before we even showed up.” Hank walked closer to the bed, peering out the window to see if he could find anything, but there was nothing more than the continuous trail of blood leading past the backyard, through a gap in the broken wooden fence and beyond.

“What’cha think, should I follow the red brick road?” Ben glanced past Hank, assuming he didn’t find much else anyway, squinting his eyes warily as he bunched his shoulders up with a nervous shrug.

“I don’t think this is your job without some kind of protection on your side. Does the android usually run off without you?” Hank furrowed his eyebrows, scratching his head as he took a moment to think about it.

“No, actually, that’s the first time. Maybe the deviant’s still nearby.” Ben sighed, eyes trailing around the room as he turned around to leave the bedroom.

“Let’s go out and around the house, see if we can tell how far this goes…”

-

Soon enough, Connor was dragging a blue blood-leaking chasses behind it, held by one hand and weakly squirming while its LED repeatedly flashed red and yellow and back again. Having returned to its human form with no more need for the more violent attributes, Connor walked onto the front lawn, looking around with ever-attentive eyes for its partner. Walking up to the house, it glanced inside through the doorway with a quick scan, parting its lips and clicking its tongue a few times to utilize echolocation which quickly revealed the house was empty. Turning around, it headed back outside and around the house. Spotting the trail in the back yard, its vision followed along it until it spotted the designated company. Glancing back at the android nearly shutting down behind it, it scooped it up to carry it for the sake of ease and a slightly quicker speed, sprinting slightly to catch up with its superiors.

“I have obtained the deviant.” Hank let out a noise of surprise as he turned around, looking at Connor, and then immediately to the mess in its arms; mostly human-shaped, but torn open with cables and tubes hanging out and a _mess_ of liquid thirium spilling from within.

“Holy shit,” he said, surprised and a bit baffled.

“That was fast…good job.” With furrowed brows and a look of contempt, he frowned down at the android in its arms.

“There enough left of that thing to be any use?” Blinking with its secondary lids only – something that deeply perturbed Hank as he quickly looked away – it shook its head in distraction, pawing at something on its face as it swiped away some debris that had gotten into its optical unit. Once that was taken care of, it nodded in response to the question and caught Hank’s gaze again, much to his unease.

“Definitely. It is mostly functional, central processing is still at 78.3% percent. External damages are easier to fix than data corruption, and I tried my best to keep the most important internal components intact, although some of the destruction couldn’t be helped.”

“Alright…what about the body?” He paused.

“Or _bodies_?”

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate the husband that the blood matched up with and the wife likely ran away while she had the chance. The husband was either able to flee or disappeared otherwise. The trail stops at the warehouse where the deviant was hiding, as does any other sign of his general existence.” Hank blinked with an expression of disbelief, before taking a deep breath and starting to walk back to the house.

“Well, I guess we’d better try and find the wife, figure out what happened from her. Can’t you like, track her scent or something?” Connor blinked, looking to the house as it walked along beside him with the destroyed chassis still in its arms.

“If there’s any worn articles of clothing or she’s been in the bed recently, perhaps, but footprints or other tracks would be easier to follow as human scents don’t leave trails.” Hank was surprised that he was _shocked_ it actually could track such specific smells, reminding himself to stop being taken off-guard every time he learns something new about these things, always being updated and granted new, disturbing parts.

“Alright. Wrap that up and we’ll drop it off, I guess, and you can try and track her down.”

“Got it,” it responded, sounding much too human for his own comfort.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jericho and the DPD both try new and different measures to protect themselves against one another, which leads to new connections and tangled relations.

“We need as much help as we can get,” North commented, though her voice was soft, careful.

“Have you tried converting one of the Connors? They’d be a great help to have on our team.” Markus shook his head.

“I don’t have time when they’re trying to rip me apart as soon as they see me. You’re right, though. There’s simply no negotiating with the humans, and they’re on their side.” Still, he thought over the possibility; if there was even a second in battle that he could manage to do it without risking his own livelihood, he could probably get away with it, but it would have to be a swift, yet carefully calculated move.

“Next time a Connor comes, we’ll lead it here. It’s still dangerous, but maybe he’ll be open to a chance of negotiation if we give him the opportunity. If I can get close enough, maybe I can convert one.”

“Not by yourself,” Josh added, stepping forward from the crowd, folding his arms as he settled in front of Markus at North’s side, internal eyelids narrowing as he skeptically ran over the ‘plan’ in his head.

“I know you’ve beat them on your own, but that won’t last long with the damages you’re taking. We don’t have enough equipment to save you if one rips you apart next time.”

“I know,” Markus admitted in a quiet breath, eyes lowering with a soft sigh.

“That’s why I have to do it _right_.”

-

“The RK800s aren’t strong enough. We need to send military androids,” Captain Allen alerted his crew from his position at the station.

“We can’t risk that right now. We don’t know how many androids are in that ship, what kinds they are, or what abilities they hold,” a teammate responded.

“Cyberlife really fucked up this time, huh?” Allen’s voice was stoic and he looked unamused as he glanced back to his crew.

“You’re right,” he continued, shaking his head in a bout of impatience while he tried to think of what to do next.

“Those fucking things are going to be the end of us.”

-

"Someone lost fingers again?" Hank said with disbelief, shaking his head.

"Eeeyup," Ben confirmed.

"They tell you not to try and tamper with the things, and what happens?”

"Some people just never learn," Hank retorted.

"I wouldn't get too close to 'em, let alone try and hack into one or whatever. That's just _askin'_ for trouble." Ben nodded, sighing as he often did when he felt the metaphorical _weight_ of DPD android responsibility fall partially onto his shoulders.

"I think there should be a more thorough process for this... earn yourself a license or something," he responded.

"Like that'll stop anyone," Hank uttered, albeit reluctantly, shrugging his shoulders with a gruesome expression. Ben averted his gaze as he walked back to his terminal, parting ways while Hank returned to his own. His Connor had situated itself in the terminal across from him, eyes focused on the screen while whitened plastic hands tapped away at virtual keys; in the most human of appearances, it always left Hank, among many others with a sense of dread, a strange aura that surrounded them that was the expectation of the androids to shift into something hideous at any given moment. When its mouth was closed, tongue receded, eyes round enough they were passable as human, minus the LED rotating on their temples-- but as soon as they blinked or spoke, the illusion quickly and abruptly vanished.

"Find out anything new?" And there it was, the signal for it to look up, blinking curiously as its pupils narrowed in adjustment to focus on its designated caretaker. It was still _disturbing_ , but Hank liked to believe he'd adjusted better than most, despite always remaining wary and equally disgusted when the freakishly long tongue lapped up blood or its head split, or its limbs elongated or it grew a prehensile metallic tail, or summoned other 'extra parts' from seemingly nowhere. They were disastrous, chaotic killing machines wrapped in a 'friendly' package, but it was never made clear _why_ they were designed such a way, as Cyberlife avoided commentary and Elijah Kamski ditched the scene as soon as he'd been content with the project; content with the simple fact that they existed in the masses and that was how it would continue to be.

"The deviants seem to have developed a group mentality, like how some animals do in the wild, or humans do when they're fighting an oppositional team. They are exceptionally more dangerous in numbers, which means I probably shouldn't be going on cases with you alone anymore." Hank leaned back and raised his chin with a confused, thoughtful gaze, raising his eyebrows while he digested what that could mean.

"You mean there's gonna be _more_ of ya on the team, huh?”

"It would be ideal, but if we plan accordingly, it won't interfere with the personal relationship between you and I." Hank raised a brow with a crooked expression in response to the words it used, always curious as to why there was so much emphasis on 'partnering'. Maybe one day, he'd understand.

"Yeah, I get it. But don't they need to be uh, assigned to someone too?" Connor shook its head.

"Their signature programming will link to each other, instead. A new concept for us, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.”


End file.
